First of all, stop "correcting" him and rolling him on his back. You're a human, a provider and controller of resources, not a dog or a member of his "pack". Rolling him on his back serves no purpose but to confuse the hell out of the dog and break his trust which you have not yet earned.

Once the mods give you full access, you will have a wealth of information at your finger tips. In the meantime, here are articles you definitely need to read:

Welcome! Please read the links Allison posted. They are full of good info for you. The whole dominance training/physical correction stuff is very old school, and proven to have many negative side affects. It's best to use positive reinforcement/training, and you especially don't want to use physical corrections on a dog you do not know the history of and how it could affect him. I hope you stick around, I'd love to see some pics of Big Red!

Go through the above listed links, and slow down with him. My advice right now would be to have him on a tie out away from the kids (since you want him out with you all) while they are playing until he learns that kids are loud and move quickly, and remove him from the yard if you think he is getting too overstimulated. As for nipping at your kid on the swing, that is really a normal (though not acceptable) canine behavior. The child is moving back and forth, and most likely not quietly. To a dog this looks like a really fun game and/or stimulates prey drive. Just because he doesn't seem to have drive now, it doesn't mean its not there. Red has to be taught that playing with the kids like that is a no-no. Give him something else to do instead or keep him away. As for getting your hand while playing tug... eh, it happens. So long as it wasn't "intentional" I wouldn't worry.

Mooresmajestic wrote:Go through the above listed links, and slow down with him. My advice right now would be to have him on a tie out away from the kids (since you want him out with you all) while they are playing until he learns that kids are loud and move quickly, and remove him from the yard if you think he is getting too overstimulated. As for nipping at your kid on the swing, that is really a normal (though not acceptable) canine behavior. The child is moving back and forth, and most likely not quietly. To a dog this looks like a really fun game and/or stimulates prey drive. Just because he doesn't seem to have drive now, it doesn't mean its not there. Red has to be taught that playing with the kids like that is a no-no. Give him something else to do instead or keep him away. As for getting your hand while playing tug... eh, it happens. So long as it wasn't "intentional" I wouldn't worry.